Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Our Brandy and Winter Peppermint tea has the fruity taste of a good Brandy with the cooling zing of Peppermint Schnapps. Perfect for an evening Hot Toddy.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve confessed this before, but I’m not really big on alcoholic drinks. I’ll have an occasional drink, but it is a rare event, but I am certainly no expert when it comes to alcohol.
But I am usually intrigued by alcohol flavored teas. Usually, but I have to admit that I wasn’t terribly excited by this particular tea. Somehow, the combination of brandy and peppermint just didn’t sound like it would taste very good. Boy, was I WRONG. (But don’t tell my husband I admitted that! We can’t have him going around thinking I was wrong about something)
This tea is really INCREDIBLE. The peppermint is really vibrant, it tastes more like peppermint Schnapps to me (which shouldn’t be surprising since it’s mentioned in the description). The peppermint is front and center with this tea, and it tastes very fresh, and I suspect it is the flavoring of the brandy that elevates the peppermint flavor.
The brandy flavor lies just beneath the peppermint, always there, making its presence known but without becoming too aggressive. It is very mellow and calm. It has a fruitiness to it that tastes reminiscent of sweet grapes, plum and tangy currants. There is also a hint of smoked wood flavor to it – not a strong flavor and I found that it was most prevalent in the first couple of sips and now, not so much as I am nearly finished with my cup. The brandy notes lend a very smooth taste to this cup, and evokes thoughts of a brandy that somebody’s rich uncle would keep in a fine crystal decanter for special occasions.
The black tea base is not to be overlooked here, as it is a key element to what makes this cup taste so astonishingly good. It has a bright, brisk flavor to it, but it is not an incredibly bold flavored tea, which leads me to think that it is probably a Ceylon.
Overall, an excellent flavored black tea. This is one that you’ll want to have on hand this holiday season, because it would make a great alternative for someone who wants some of those festive holiday flavors without imbibing alcohol, a fantastic substitution for the traditional “hot toddy”!
